Blogging Fair Trade

As discussed in Fairtrade versus fair trade, there are two different types of fairtrade/fair trade and, as such, two different types of products: fairtrade products and fair trade products. In this blog I will discuss what makes a product fairtrade, whilst my next blog will focus on fair trade products.

If something is designated a fairtrade product it means that it has been awarded the Fair Trade Mark. This logo is a great way of making fairtrade products easy to spot in supermarket aisles and of raising awareness of fairtrade.

The Fairtrade Mark is awarded by the Fairtrade Foundation in the UK. In the early days, this mark was only awarded to products like coffee, chocolate and bananas. A lot of progress has been made, however, and the Fairtrade Mark can now be seen on a whole host of different products:

coffee, tea, hot chocolate, wine, beer, fruit juice
fresh fruit, including bananas, grapes, pineapples, grapefruits, lemons, etc.
dried fruit, biscuits, cereals, rice, honey
chocolate, sweets, cakes
flowers
cotton

The Fairtrade Foundation also recently announced the launch of fairtrade vegetables, and it is likely that more and more types of products will be added to the increasingly comprehensive list of items that can be bought in a fairtrade version.

If a product bears the Fairtrade Mark it means that it has passed stringent tests and fulfilled the strict standards set by the international fairtrade labelling body, or the FLO, of which the Fairtrade Foundation is the UK representative. These standards relate to three areas of development – social development, economic development and environmental development – and their objectives are as follows:

• to ensure a guaranteed Fairtrade minimum price which is agreed with producers
• to provide an additional Fairtrade premium which can be invested in projects that enhance social, economic and environmental development
• to enable pre-financing for producers who require it
• to emphasise the idea of partnership between trade partners
• to facilitate mutually beneficial long-term trading relationships
• to set clear minimum and progressive criteria to ensure that the conditions for the production and trade of a product are socially and economically fair and environmentally responsible.

The standards applied to products awarded the Fairtrade Mark are carefully developed by the FLO to suit the individual product in question. The standards go above and beyond guaranteeing a certain price for producers; they specify rules that must be followed by the producers, to ensure that a quality product is created, and by the wholesalers/retailers, to ensure that a fair trading relationship is formed.

As these fairtrade standards are created for specific products, the Fairtrade Mark can only be applied to products that have already had these standards developed. For producers of handicrafts and other goods, they must look to the World Fair Trade Organisation and fair trade. My next blog will look more closely at how fair trade works.